major newbie question : cannister filter has mystery parts

This is a discussion on major newbie question : cannister filter has mystery parts within the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
Hello, its been a while since I've been here and yet I'm still a newbie. My first little tank and its inhabitants are still ...

Hello, its been a while since I've been here and yet I'm still a newbie. My first little tank and its inhabitants are still okay and I feel I've learned from them, yet I am in the embarrassing situation of having to ask one of the dumbest questions you've probably ever heard here.

I'm setting up a new tank (38 gallons) which came with an EHEIM Classic cannister filter -- and I can't figure out how to set up the filter! The filter on my first aquarium is completely different, and the instructions with the cannister filter seem to be written for someone who already knows how to set it up. They leave out details. and several parts which arrived in the box are not mentioned at all nor shown in the diagrams! The cannister itself is ready, and I've got the hoses attached to the two pipes, but am a bit concerned that the parts shown in my photos, which must be needed, have not been explained. I checked their website and it had no details; its strictly for sales. And I don't live anywhere near an aquarium store, so I hope you can help.

These are the pieces whose place in the set-up was not specified. In the case of the first photo, I don't even know the parts' purpose.

I'm tempted to include photos of the diagrams so you can see how unhelpful they are. Would you like to see them?

ive never used eheim but the parts in the first picture look like ball valves that allow you to stop water flow when the filter is off and detatch the filter from the input and outpot tubes. If thats true then you would cut the tubing close to the filter and plug those into the lines. The second picture looks like braces that would be put around the tubing to allow the tubing to bend over ledges or around corners without getting pinched off. I've used similar praces when connecting a filter to a display pond in a store. A lot of canister filters will come with extra parts to allow for versatility of the filter. For instance, my rena filter had about 5 different ways I could have water coming back into my tank. Again, I havn't used Eheim so hopefully an eheim user can clarify for you.

I believe Mike has got it, on both accounts. My buddy has a Fluval, and it came with parts just like yours. Those bands are for angling the tubes without creating choke points, and the other pieces are flow control valves, I'm pretty sure.

Thanks for the information. I suspected as much about the green curved thingee (brace); I guess that must go over the edge of the tank then. But the valves totally baffled me. You'd think they would have mentioned something about them in the directions, but then they were trying to fit at least five different languages into one little pamphlet. :)

And yes, thank you, I think it will be a pretty cool toy once it is set up. Hopefully by tomorrow. :D